Kenya's Supreme Court on Thursday suspended a shutdown of TV broadcasters ordered by the government after several channels covered the non-sanctioned ceremony of opposition leader Raila Odinga proclaiming himself to be the "people's president".
The court ordered the immediate re-establishment of the signals for the NTV, Citizen TV, KTN News and Inooro channels as well as their affiliated radios, which could only be viewed live online since Tuesday morning, Efe news reported.
Activist Okiya Omtatah filed the case with the Supreme Court on Thursday morning, asking the court to prohibit the government from interfering with the signal of the networks in the future.
Supreme Court judge Chacha Mwita declared the case urgent, to be heard in court on February 14, and suspended the shutdown until the hearing.
In his case, Omtatah sued Information Minister Joseph Mucheru along with Interior Minister Fred Matiang'i.
Matiang'i issued a statement on Wednesday stating that the TV shutdown would remain until the coverage of the ceremony, which he described as a "serious breach of security", was investigated.
Journalists and members of the civil society demanded the immediate reconnection of all TV broadcasts and stated that the government showed an intention to "delegitimize and criminalize the media sector".
They also criticized the government for threatening journalists and officials of these networks with possible arrest.
Odinga on January 30 proclaimed himself to be the "people's president" at the ceremony that brought together tens of thousands of his supporters, prompting the government to shut down TV broadcasts and issue warnings of high treason.
The National Super Alliance (NASA) frontman Odinga has refused to recognize his rival Uhuru Kenyatta as the legitimate President of the country ever since the latter rushed to victory with 98 per cent of the vote in the controversial October 2017 election run-off.
It was organized by the Supreme Court after the court found irregularities in the original vote two months prior. The opposition boycotted by the election.
--IANS
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